Journeying to a Healthier, Tastier Lifestyle

Day Two: How Ambien Saved Me From The Nighttime Munchies

Ok, I confess. I’d used up my entire allotment of points for Weight Watchers, and it was only 4 PM. I did an hour of housework, and that scored me a sweet 5 points for dinner. But, Baby, by 8:45 PM, I was ready to roll someone for anything with the primary ingredient of sugar.

And the fat lady in the mirror was egging me on.

“Maybe your kid has some leftover Halloween candy somewhere. Or in his pockets. Didn’t he just dump a bunch of laundry somewhere?”

I perked up at that idea. He was notorious for leaving things in his pockets, and he had actually brought down his dirty clothes to the laundry room. I decided that there was no time like the present to sort laundry, taking extra care to turn his pockets inside out. But, alas, the only treasures I found were a school ID, a broken pencil, and a tiny cannon crafted from paper clips (good to know his classroom supplies were going towards such creative endeavors).

With a new load of laundry churning in the washer, I hoped the sound would drown out the growling in my stomach. Meanwhile, the lady who hangs out in my head was full of new ideas:

Does Weight Watchers make you count the points if you just suck off the chocolate from those covered nuts and then spit the nuts out? If you go ahead and eat the nuts, can’t you just not write it down and pretend it never happened? And why not borrow from tomorrow’s budget? If it works for the Federal Government, why can’t it work for a little old diet?

Unable to quiet the questions or the growling stomach, I decided the safest choice was just to go to bed. And thanks to Ambien, I slept all the way into morning where a full budget of points appeared for the new day.

I’ve heard that some people sleep-eat on Ambien, but that’s where I draw the line. If I end up being one of those people, I am not tracking calories consumed while sleepwalking.

Oh, and the suffering paid off. I can slice off 1 1/2 pounds from my goal to lose 65 pounds in all.

About

Lisa Abeyta

The Diet Diaries was originally a syndicated column published by The Albuquerque Tribune. When the paper closed its doors, fans continued to follow the humorous escapades through The Diet Diaries blog. Featured on the Dr. Laura website, followers have come to enjoy Lisa’s humorous and honest look at the process of coming to terms with life changes necessary to get healthy.